Time Is of the Essence
by pseudoricked
Summary: As Alfred's grandmother's dying wish, he swipes her antique pocket watch and keeps it hidden away from all of his greedy relatives. Little does he know, there is more to the pocket watch than what meets the eye. Alfred finds this out just in time for the watch to work its magic and send Alfred back into the year 1940 - right in the middle of the London Blitz. US/UK, WW2 AU
1. Chapter 1

"_Sonny, I need you to do something for me," she croaked, feebly attempting to sit up in the creaky hospital bed. Alfred shuddered at her movement, knowing that in the state she was in, any slight movement could kill her._

"_Yes, Gran?"_

_She closed her eyes in concentration and ever so slowly lifted her hand to shake a stubborn index finger at her grandson. "I… I want you to have something. An old keepsake, something very dear to me." She looked around the room for a moment, dazed, before remembering to continue. "My funeral. It has already been settled in my will; it will be held in my home. When you attend my funeral –"_

"_Don't say that," Alfred interrupted, choking back tears._

"_Oh, hush, child. It's tough, I know, but inevitable all the same. You and I both know it's right around the corner, looking at my current condition." She sighed. "Now, when you attend my funeral, you need to get away from the other folks. I don't care how you manage to do so, so long as you do it. Go to my bedroom, and open the top drawer of the old brown dresser in the far corner. There you will find a silver pocket watch. Take it and the letter lying under it. And whatever you do, keep the watch safe."_

"_Thanks, Gran. I'm honored that you would trust me with something so important to you." Alfred forced himself to smile slightly, reaching over to his grandmother's hand and squeezing in reassurance. His grandmother, however, shook her head._

"_No, Alfred, child. This is more than just trusting you with an ordinary item. Sonny, if only it were that simple." Her breath caught in her throat. "Stash away the items you retrieve. You mustn't let anyone catch you, or let anyone know you are in possession of the pocket watch, at all costs."_

"_But why? Why does the watch have to be a secret?" Alfred asked, growing progressively more confused as their conversation continued. He looked down and noticed his hands were trembling. He decided to solve that problem by clasping his hands together in a death grip upon his lap._

"_You'll find out in due time. Just make sure you keep the watch safe and secret." Her breathing became more rapid, and Alfred leaned closer simultaneously. "I love you, sonny," she gasped, heaving in her hospital bed in one final attempt to maintain her life. The heart monitor sang one long, continuous note, cruelly announcing to Alfred and the rest of the hospital that she had departed from this world._

* * *

I stood in the den of Gran's old Victorian mansion, awkwardly mingling beside the table filled with stale refreshments. No one bothered to talk to me, a rare occurrence. Today, though, I didn't mind. The less attention I received today, the better. I strained my ears, listening to the muffled conversations of the adults in the next room over.

"The house is worth _how much_?"

"A half million alone, and that doesn't even include any of her valuables!"

"Alice left me all her jewels in her will. I bet I could pawn them for quite a pretty penny."

I put my headphones in, not wanting to hear anymore. All I wanted was for this day to end. I was already nervous and upset enough without having to listen to the selfish desires of the rest of my family. I shook my head in disgust. No one even seemed to genuinely care about Gran except for me. They only "cared" for the monetary gain. Bastards!

"What was that, young man?" A stuffy, middle-aged relative of mine whom I hated too much to care about his name peered his head in through the doorway of the den. "Shit," I mumbled underneath my breath. I didn't realize I had begun to speak out loud.

"N-nothing. Sir," I tacked on as an afterthought, not wanting to piss him off more. I had a nerve-racking task ahead of me, and to have someone giving me the evil eye every two seconds would not be a good way to start off.

The man glared at me for what seemed to be an eternity before abruptly spinning around and walking out of the room, presumably back to his snobby, wealth-obsessed friends. What a dick. I looked down at my iPod to check the time. Ten minutes until the service was to start. I couldn't procrastinate any longer. With Gran's dying wish playing on repeat in my head, I forced my stiff legs to shuffle inch by inch until I made it to the doorway. I pressed my ear against the wall and listened carefully. The snobs were still blabbing on and on about their greedy desires, so I deemed it safe to make my departure. The ancient floorboards creaked as I made my way down. So far, so good. I met the end of the hallway and fumbled around in the dark for the doorknob, too afraid to draw attention to myself by turning on the light. But a set of footsteps not belonging to myself made me cease. My breath hitched in my throat, and I wanted nothing more than to make a run for it, but my feet were frozen in place, leaving me paralyzed. Of course I would get myself caught before I even grabbed the stuff. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, _I criticized myself.

"Alfred?"

_Shit. _I turned around to meet the face of the voice behind me.

* * *

**Short chapter is short! They will get longer as the story progresses. Reviews are greatly appreciated. c:**


	2. Chapter 2

"Matthew?"

My brother. Just my brother. Oh, thank goodness it was just him.

I stood still, eyes locked on his with the sinking feeling of being a deer caught in the headlights. Matthew returned my stare with a puzzled one of his own. "Alfred, what are you doing? The funeral will start any minute now." He crossed his arms, undoubtedly trying to appear as the intimidating older sibling he should be, but isn't. I sighed. Much to my dismay, he was right. I had spent so much time precariously sneaking down the hall that almost all of my time was out. I had to act, and act fast.

"Listen, Matthew, there's no time to explain, but I need you to help me out. Stand outside this door here and act as a lookout, so to speak. I'll be out in a minute, okay?" I didn't wait for answer, instead opting to run into Gran's room and hope that Matthew would back me up here.

The room was desolate and filled with an empty atmosphere. All of the personality that this room possessed had been ripped out by her cold blooded relatives, most likely in a hunt for something of value that they could pawn off for their own monetary gain. I shook my head abruptly, bringing my mind back to the present. No time to dwell on the past when there was a job to be done. My eyes quickly scanned the room and landed on an aged dresser in the far corner of the room. I dashed over to it, hoping all the while that her relatives had not gotten to going through the objects in this dresser yet. If they did, then I was royally screwed.

I hastily yanked the top drawer open. Nothing. I proceeded to the second, and third. All empty. I began to grow frantic as I searched more of the dresser, all in vain. My breath started to come faster as my hectic thoughts raced through my mind. _It has to be here. It has to be. I had one job, one! Jones, you had better not screw this one up! _At last, I reached the bottom drawer. I tried to steady my shaking hands with no success and opened the drawer.

In it was a white sheet, haphazardly crumpled and stuffed tightly inside. I pulled it out quickly. In my haste, something flew out of the sheet and crashed onto the hardwood flooring. I instinctively turned towards the loud crash the object had made.

_The watch._

There it lay, upon the worn hardwood floor, its ornate gold engravings and shiny exterior that reflected the warm sunlight deeply contrasting the dreary, bleak bedroom it currently resided in. I never thought that an inanimate object could ever possess such beauty, but that watch surely did. It put all the jewelry I had ever laid eyes on before to shame. The watch's cover was crafted of what appeared to be pure gold, its engravings creating an intricate weaving pattern circling across the exterior. The light filtering in through the window and onto the watch didn't simply reflect off of the watch's surface – it seemed to glow, as if the watch itself had a heavenly halo. I stared at it, mesmerized.

"Alfred! Hurry up, someone's coming!"

_Shit. _Another complication. Just what we needed. I snatched the watch and then the letter Gran mentioned from the bottom drawer. I struggled with the sheet, trying to stuff it into the drawer quickly.

"Alfred! Come on!" Matthew sounded more urgent now.

"Okay, okay." I slammed the drawer shut, tucked the letter and watch into my pockets, and left Gran's bedroom. I closed the door behind me and turned around. A pair of livid eyes met mine.

"What do you think you're doing?" The middle aged man's angry eyes bored into me, seeming to probe around looking for an answer. My brain was racing, but I couldn't come up with an excuse. Hell, I didn't even remember who he was. An uncle? Cousin? Luckily, Matthew broke through the silence for me.

"We just got lost, sir. We haven't been in Gran's house in quite a long time."

The man sneered, his eyes never leaving mine. "I'm asking you, boy." He glared at me, waiting.

"My brother just spoke to you; the least you could do is listen. He answered for the both of us, so we have no more business here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a funeral to attend to." I shoved my way passed the man, tugging Matthew along behind me. To my dismay, however, the man was not going to back off that easily. He placed a beefy hand on my shoulder, stopping Matthew and me in our tracks.

"Not so fast, boys. I want answers, and quickly." He tightened his grip on my shoulder.

"George, what are you doing? The funeral's starting," Aunt Lindsey called out, pausing at the beginning of the hallway. "You guys coming?"

The man, whose name was apparently George, peered down at us through narrowed eyelids, before slowly releasing his death grip on my shoulder. I resisted the urge to rub the circulation back into my arm, and instead opted for angrily glaring at George.

"This isn't over. I know you two were up to something, and I will find out what," George hissed, before walking briskly away to catch up with Aunt Lindsey.

Matthew let out a long sigh. "Wow. That was nerve wracking, to say the least." He turned towards me. "What are you going to do now?"

"Honestly, I really don't know yet. Let's just go to the funeral, and then book it out of here as fast as possible, so George doesn't track us down for further interrogation. Because I have a feeling that if he finds us alone again, we probably won't get a lucky break like the last time."

Matthew slowly shook his head in disbelief. "How do I get myself in these messes?"

I cracked a small smile. "Because you're related to me."

"Oh, yeah, of course."

And we walked down to the funeral.

**Hey guys, I just wanted to thank all who have read, followed, and favorited so far. It means a lot. ^.^ Also, shout out to ArkieR for the review! More updates soon.**


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